![]() This cult adaptation of Ann Beattie’s 1976 novel is in many ways a product of its time (neon-looking lighting and a saxophone score), and its depiction of a man pretty much stalking his ex is even iffier today than it was back then. ![]() If you’ve ever been the one the other person was just not that into, we recommend 1979’s Chilly Scenes of Winter, now available for streaming on Netflix Instant after being out of print on VHS and never available on DVD. And the worst perpetuators of this violence are the ones who don’t even intend it, who want to be nice, and not to hurt anybody, but wind up hurting almost everybody because they just can’t accept themselves, and by extension anybody else. Sometimes people make it, sometimes they don’t, and sometimes they just have to acknowledge that this is the case to have any hope. It’s about the ugliest truth of most relationships, which is that they can exist in a state of perpetual “now” that can be shattered by even the slightest movement forward. Save the Date is a raw, open wound of a romantic movie, about the inverse of the emotional violence found in a John Cassavetes flick. Caplan’s very good at conveying that this doesn’t come from a place of malice or manipulation but rather youthful uncertainty, a fear of the ecstasy of a romantic fling curdling as it becomes something more permanent. Sarah herself is somewhere between sympathetic and monstrous as she commits such social faux pas as drunkenly showing up at her shared residence with Kevin while he’s still vulnerable over the breakup, or in an amorous moment pushing an uncertain Jonathan to reveal some flaw from his past (“There’s GOT to be something wrong with you, you’re so nice”). The film pushes things to a moment where both Sarah and Beth’s relationships are in crisis, and Andrew’s on the verge of a nervous breakdown, but it never loses sympathy and understanding for its characters. He claims he isn’t into marriage or being overly serious (every other character sees through this right away). This is the grist for many a rom-com, but co-writer/ director Michael Mohan gets as much mileage out of Kevin’s raw pain and humiliation from the breakup as Sarah’s rebound fling with Jonathan (Mark Webber), an overly-nice guy with a crush on Sarah from her day job at a bookstore. When Andrew gives Kevin the idea to publicly propose to the already-wavering Sarah, their relationship has a public meltdown. Kevin is in a band with Andrew (Caplan’s Party Down costar Martin Starr), himself the fiancé of Sarah’s more grounded sister Beth (Alison Brie from TV’s Community), who’s perfectly happy planning her own wedding and a future of double-dating amongst the two couples. The best of INDY Week’s fiercely independent journalism about the Triangle delivered straight to your inbox.Ĭo-written by the cartoonist Jeffrey Brown, whose autobiographical cartoons often deal with the small, sometimes biting moments of relationships, it casts Lizzy Caplan as Sarah, a woman who’s so uncertain about moving in with her musician boyfriend Kevin (Geoffrey Arend) that she doesn’t even bother washing the dried food off her plates before they go into her moving boxes. ![]() If you’ve ever just not been that into him (or her), we recommend last year’s Save the Date (available on demand and through streaming services on YouTube, Amazon and elsehwere), which takes a number of ideas seen in countless indy films-uncertain 20-somethings, sisters with different takes on love, impulsive relationships-and finds a take that’s darker, more honest, yet still funny. 14, that depict everything from the complexities of commitment to what becomes of the broken-hearted. ![]() ![]() Though Hollywood has provided many pairs of rose-colored glasses when it comes to relationships, there’s a number of lesser-known films that are perfect for those finding themselves lonely and/or bitter on Feb. Millions more will celebrate it alone, and some will wonder why their lives aren’t like those of Audrey Hepburn, Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, or (in my case) John Cusack, at least the characters they play on screen. Today, millions will celebrate Valentine’s Day with their spouses, significant others and loved ones. ![]()
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